The Picture of Contented New Wealth: A metaphysical horror

by Tariq Goddard

In the brilliant red doom of a Hampshire Sunset Brigit Conti can hear a voice behind her ears that is not her own. Bed-bound, and complaining of a rare bone disease that no Doctor can diagnose, her husband fears that the house they have purchased is a portal through which an older, more malign energy has passed, possessing his wife and son. Through their successive deterioration his secular and agnostic world-view undergoes a metamorphosis, drawing him to a strange man from the the Rector, their unlikely saviour. Or are he and his family merely victims of their own self-serving yuppie way of life? The picture of contented new wealth' is a gothic tragedy set in the nineteen eighties, bringing proper characterisation and a literary sensibility to the traditional horror story. Its mix of generic elements and mystical realism deal with the irreducibility of evil and its successful normalisation in to our daily and dominant reality.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Tariq Goddard was born in London in 1975. He read Philosophy at King’s College London. His first three novels were shortlisted for various awards including Whitbread (Costa) First Novel Award, Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. His fourth and fifth books won the Independent Publishers Gold medal for Horror Writing and Silver medal for Literary Fiction respectively. He lives on a farm in Wiltshire with his wife and children.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not regret reading this book but fell far short of what I had hoped it would be.
I love the cover of The Picture of Contented New Wealth and from this wrongly assumed the book would be a far more Gothic and frightening read than it actually was. In fact it was the opposite, I didn’t find it at all scary nor did it leave me with a chill down my spine.
The book was on the short side (only 215 pages), I would have like the characters and story line to be developed more. Most of the characters in the book were self-absorbed and developed only around their sexual desires. The boys possession only lasted a couple of pages. He could have had a far better storyline. The mother (also possessed, which you learn early on in the book) had verbal diarrhoea but essentially that was it. No head spinning or psycho-b**** from hell antics. Even the house didnt seem haunted.
An easy read and short book, I didn’t hate it but didn’t love it either.

A great idea for a book, but it could have been much better executed than it was. The ending was far too rushed to tie it all up. Started well and could have had so much more potential, such a shame it didn’t follow through.

[Leila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out fantastic, the writing is very strong. About halfway through the story became kind of generic though, at least to me. I was expecting something new, and unimaginable. Still worth a read I guess, if you fancy evil.

[Maddy Keen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very interesting concept, pretty poor execution. The pacing was inconsistent, the ending was rushed, and it seemed to me that the author never fully hashed out his storyboard before opening a word document. I read it very quickly, so I obviously can’t say it wasn’t entertaining, but it really doesn’t have much in terms of literary value, which was disappointing because the intro wound me up for a unique metaphysical commentary on morality (and lack thereof). It just felt like a poorly stitched together combo of the exorcist and the haunting of hill house with a severe lack of editing.

[Albin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vilken djupt frustrerande bok.

Storyn, konceptet och så är coolt och bra men hur den är skriven... Oändligt långa meningar och överanvändande av kommatecken gör att den tog mycket längre tid att läsa än den borde. Lämnar en liksom med en pretentiös känsla som den inte hade behövt.

[Giu · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.25⭐️

So much rambling … and the last third just didn’t want to end 😵‍💫

[Teflon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended to those who like pretentious writing and feel that horror is beneath them. For all others only read if you're borrowing it from a mate or there's nothing left on the shelf. There's some good writing here -that's true - but the editing is awful (ironic considering the overbearing pretentious crap at the end of the book by the publisher). Better editing and taking out "the last word" would make this a 4 star book. As it is, it hovers between 2 and 3....

[Charlie Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, a word about our sponsor. This review is of a book that has been written by my current publisher. I have recently reviewed books by people who are friends of mine. Do I feel uncomfortable about this? Is there something unethical about posting these reviews on a public site? Not really. And not because I've belatedly mentioned it at the top. Rather because it's part of an organic process. When you're drawn, as both a reader and a writer, to independent presses, it is inevitable you will meet with, socialise with, read, and enjoy the work of like-minded peers, those whose work you find chimes with your own preoccupations about form, or subject matter, or perspective. There is a difference, I think, between what arises from these relationships and the obligation placed on writers – at bigger publishers and with bigger profiles – to puff the books of their stablemates in the hope of giving the latter some commercial advantage.

With that non-caveat out of the way, we can move onto the book. And, as an experiment (I hadn't previously tried the format), the audio version. Subtitled 'a metaphysical horror', it's the story of an 'intelligent and formidable' bed-bound woman who is possessed by a force that gives her 'extra sensory gifts' and a 'primal' appreciation of evil. It is genuinely unsettling in concept and execution yet at the same time, set as it is amongst the wealthy and amoral of a peculiarly eighties vintage, its gothic sensibility is complemented with elements of satire and parable. Wit too: ''Well you know what they say, you can't be judged a complete failure until you've lost your vanity...'' ('Know what they say?' I've never encountered this construction before, but I like it.)

The way in which the best of the sentences reveal their meaning with such measured threat reminds me of another writer of 'strange stories', Robert Aickman. So much so that if this book had come out, say, ten years later than it did, and been marketed as a work of the 'uncanny', it's not a stretch to imagine its author receiving the sort of recognition that Aickman has - belatedly - of late. There are also passages that provide the reader with a more obvious entertainment:

'As Conti approached the car and looked into Raffle's frankly mottled face, he felt a physical gratitude for the sensations of the past they had imparted to one another. He touched her arm and said, slightly melodramatically, 'If you don't love you're dead an if you do they'll kill you,' before kissing her. It may, he reflected, be corny to carry on in this way, but it was his personal aesthetic and she might as well live with it as he had to.
A swift inrush of serenity later and he was in the car changing up from first gear to second. As he looked in to the rear view mirror and waved from the window, Raffle smiled in a soft twisted way, and he noticed a shadow emerge behind her.
Suddenly he realised there was someone in the car with him, breathing heavily.
'What are you doing in here?'
Brigit smiled swinishly from ear to ear with glittering malice.
'What are you doing here?' he repeated, before realising he was addressing an empty seat, the blue and grey of a London Winter tickling his freezing spine.'

It is this aspect - the sheer good fun that Goddard seems to be having with all this horror - that defines the audio version, which is read by the author himself. In either format though, this is a text that is fully realised and continuously and richly satisfying.

[Robyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribly pretentious yet completely non-sensical, and even so, awfully underwhelming with confusing pacing and exhaustingly cliché rich-dude misogyny which fully came off as the wet dream of the author himself.

It's a novel drowning in a blabbering of word choices and the most illogical attempts of metaphors I've ever encountered in a book (who in the world would ever describe a lolling tongue as a "baby dragon's phallus" anyway???) and so much cringe lusting interwoven into awkward dialogue that reminded me of the fanfictions I used to read (and write) as a teenager. In fact, the majority of this book was much, much worse than fanfiction.

It also came off as queer phobic because why was the devil so terribly queer coded? And why was the brother in law realizing his sexuality essentially the *scary* part of his character? Because yes, this is supposed to be horror, but the only thing horrifying about it was its writing. I've truly never been so bored yet wildly confused and ickily grossed out by a book like this before.

In other words, it desperately tries to be intellectual but the execution is so poorly it ends up doing the exact opposite.

At least my book club had an absolute blast dissecting this one to pieces, so I suppose that's something.

[Heidi Lancaster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excessively wordy and ended far too quickly. At the start of Book 3, I was hoping for something less cliche?

[Arabela · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want a metaphysical horror about awful heterosexuals, go read "A Touch of Jen". Don't waste your time on this Look-At-My-MFA bullshit.

[Ash D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first night I read this book, I woke many times through the night convinced there was something in the room with me.
The second night was much the same, with a strange smell alongside.
All good third night onwards.

That aside (or because of it), I enjoyed the book. The social critique was a little heavy for me and the Rector's reveal didn't get enough time. I thought about giving this book 4 stars but scanning through the other reviews and reflecting back on my experience, I decided to downgrade to 3.

[Hazel Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A stereotypical ending for this kind of story but it was still an enjoyable read. I did like that it was into the main premise of the story fairly quickly, there wasn't a 100 page build up however having said that, the middle was quite long instead...

If you like stories about demonic possession you will definitely enjoy this book :)

[Jake Bialos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a totally wild Cultural Critique disguised as a SUPERNATURAL TALE of possession or madness or BOTH. With a very very flawed protagonist locked in a battle with a demon over a wife he doesn't love anymore... or does he? Strange, yes. Compelling and Scarey, sure!